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Coastal Command

Order of Battle, Strength, and Availability, 1939-1945

This information is derived from various appendices in The RAF in Maritime War, a narrative history produced by the RAF's Air Historical Branch. It's still under construction, and will be for quite some time. Questions, comments, and suggestions can be sent to jnoakes@connect.carleton.ca.

The first five volumes of The RAF in Maritime War, as well as a supporting volume of statistics, is available for public consultation at the Directorate of History and Heritage in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. According to information on the RAF's Air Historical Branch website, all eight volumes are available for consultation at the institution formerly known as the Public Record Office (now The National Archives - a singularly unimaginative name) in Kew. I'm not aware of the narrative being available elsewhere, but it's quite possible that it is.

For comparison, and to put Coastal Command's forces in the broader context of the Allied antisubmarine effort during the Second World War, there's also a list of Allied maritime air forces available for ASW in the Atlantic Ocean in February 1943. I've also put together a page with the totals for each of the listings provided below.

Please note that these listings will not have information on detachments or changes of squadron bases that weren't in effect on the day of the listing -- in other words, a squadron could have been moved from base A to base B, then back to base A in the time between two listings and it wouldn't show up on either of them. Anyone looking for additional information on squadron movements and basings should consult the following books:

For RAF squadrons:

C.G. Jefford, RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912, (Shrewsbury: Airlife, 1988).

For RCAF squadrons:

Samuel Kostenuk and John Griffin, RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft, 1924-1968, (Toronto: Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, 1977).

[1939] [1940] [1941] [1942] [1943] [1944] [1945] [Glossary]

1939

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1940

01 November 1940

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Czech.: Denotes Czechoslovakian squadrons serving with the RAF.
FAA: Fleet Air Arm -- the Royal Navy's aviation component.
L/L: Leigh Light -- a powerful searchlight used to illuminate surfaced U-boats or suspicious radar contacts at night. Effective and safe use of the Light also required ASV (Air to Surface Vessel) radar and a radar altimeter.
MAD: Magnetic Anomaly Detector -- a device used to detect anomalies in the earth's magnetic field caused by the presence of large bodies of steel and most other metals. Intended to detect submerged U-boats, but would also return contacts from wrecks in shallow water, etc.
Norge: Denotes Norwegian squadrons serving with the RAF.
S/L: Search Light -- this shows up as a description for one of the USN Liberator (PB4Y) squadrons. An American version of the Leigh Light.
RAAF: Royal Australian Air Force
RCAF: Royal Canadian Air Force
RNZAF: Royal New Zealand Air Force
SAAF: South African Air Force
VLR: Very Long Range -- Consolidated B-24 Liberators modified to extend their range so that they could operate in the mid-Atlantic. See the page on Liberator Standards for more details.

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Aviation Pages
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Coastal Command Index · CC Tactical Instruction 41 · CC Liberator Standards · CC ORBAT

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Last updated 16 January 2004
JDN